Final Fantasy Xzone
by Cloud8504
Summary: Cloud is cast into the company of Squall and friends by the infamous X-zone spell and now he has completely forgotten Aeris for another's attention. Read. Review. Cry. Do what you want, just send more people my way if you like this.
1. Xzone

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the Final Fantasy games or characters, but if Square would like to use my idea for a game, that would be nice (hint hint Square)  
  
Chapter 1: X-zone  
  
A few years after the Life Stream stopped Meteor from ravish the planet, our heroes went back to their every day lives. No one really knows exactly who or what stopped Sephiroth, and Cloud and his friends decided to keep it that way. They weren't into having all of that public attention.  
  
Vincent went back to sleep. Cait Sith, aka Reeve, stopped pretending to be something he's not, and got an honest job as an airship pilot, training under Cid, who decided to keep building and flying airships. Yuffie went back to Wutai and took all of the team's materia back to her father, but, they didn't seem to really care. Red XIII watches over Cosmo Canyon, as does Barret, who always wanted to live there since the forming of Avalanche. Cloud and Tifa got themselves a place in good old Nibelheim. Tifa opened her bar in town and that's where the money in the house mostly comes from, since jobs are short for mercenaries now days. Cloud tried to work in the bar, but wound up drinking while working and well..... let's not go there.  
  
Cloud missed Aeris, and he barely noticed Tifa anymore. Cloud always liked Tifa, but he loved Aeris, and no one would ever replace her in his heart. Tifa was deeply in love with Cloud, but didn't try to initiate anything because she knew to whom his heart belonged. There was nothing she could do but hope that he got over her and realized who was right there with him all along.  
  
Cloud walked into Seventh Heaven and sat at the bar. "What can I do for you Cloud?" Tifa asked as formally as possible.  
"Gimme something hard." Cloud replied.  
"Hard day?"  
"Not really, just need something to drink." She gave him a shot glass, and he downed it, just like usual. Pretty soon, it was closing time and the drunks left. Cloud had downed about five shots, and he was just getting started.  
"Cloud, what's bothering you?" Tifa asked sincerely. "You know you can tell me anything. Cloud chose not to answer. It was the same thing everytime, it was always her, Aeris.  
"Her." Cloud finally muttered. This time Tifa said nothing. She knew that was it, but she always asked anyway, just to show that she cared.  
"Well, I mean, what's done is done, there's nothing we can do." Tifa said as three suspicious looking men burst in through the door. They had the old Shinra logo on their badges. One of them spoke, "Are you Cloud Strife?"  
"What's it to you?" Cloud replied defiantly.  
"Are you Cloud Strife?" The man asked a bit more firmly this time.  
"Yeah." Cloud responded. "What do you want with me?"  
"The new President of Shinra Inc. requests that you be brought to him, dead or alive."  
"Well, it'll have to be dead, if you think you can that is..."  
  
Suddenly the three men rushed him with swords drawn. Cloud jumped behind the bar and pulled out his trusty Buster Sword from it's cubby-hole. He made a quick move to the left and downed one of the men with a quick swipe of his blade. The other two stared in horror as Cloud rushed toward them, his sword swinging. They attempted to block, but Cloud was just too powerful, downing both of them with one swing.  
  
"Tifa! Where are you?" Cloud screamed.  
"I'm fine," Tifa replied. He had thought that she was hiding, but he had to be sure.  
"Okay, everything's okay, you can come out now."  
"Not so fast." One of the men said. "If we can't kill you, then we'll just make you disappear! X-zone!" Suddenly a dark star-filled void opened around Cloud and was pulling him in.  
"Cloud!" Tifa screamed. "You bastard, what are you doing to him!?"  
"This spell swallows him into a space known as the X-zone." The dying man said. "You cannot save him, and you will never see him again. No one ever returns from the X-zone. You.....better say...... anything.......that you might....... need to say.......aaaahhhh......."Then the man exhaled his final breath and collapsed.  
  
"Cloud!" Tifa screamed again. "I love you!" Cloud said nothing and vanished into the space.  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry about the Tifa bashing guys, I have nothing against her, but in order for the story to work, Cloud can't like Tifa in that way. He'll still be stuck on Aeris until..... well you'll find out if you keep reading. To find out where our hero winds up, give me some reviews, and I'll think about posting the second chapter. Later...... 


	2. Awakening

Welcome to Chapter 2, I hope you enjoyed the first part even though it's loosely written. Well, where does our hero end up? Keep reading to find out. What happens to the world Cloud left? Just assume that it's total destruction without him and forget about it.  
  
Chapter 2: Awakening  
Cloud opened his eyes and sat straight up. "Whoa, simmer down there cowboy!" A person in a Doctor's garb told him. "Just relax and lay back." Cloud did as he was told, but he wondered where he was, and how he'd survived.  
  
"Everything seems fine, pulse is normal, temperature is ninety-eight point six. You check out just fine." The doctor completed her analysis. "May I have your name please?"  
  
"...Cloud." He replied. "Where am I?"  
  
"You're in the infirmary at Balamb Garden. You fell unconscious near the dormitories. Did you hit your head?"  
  
"I don't think so. The last thing I remember is being at Tifa's bar and then three guys came in and cast some kind of magic on me, and I woke up here."  
  
"Where is this bar?"  
  
"In a small town near the mountains called Nibelheim."  
  
"Never heard of that place."  
  
"It's right over by Cosmo Canyon, you can't miss it."  
  
She just looked at him, she couldn't find the words to tell him that she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. To her knowledge, the places he mentioned existed no where in the world she lived in.  
  
"Well, I'm Dr. Kadowaki, and I'll have to tend to you over night before I can let you go."  
  
"But I have to go back to see if Tifa's okay."  
  
"I'm sorry Mr. Cloud but I have to monitor you for at least twenty-four hours before I can officially let you check out, Headmaster's rules with unknown patients."  
  
"Look, I'm fine, please let me leave."  
  
"I really can't, I'd get in trouble. If you just stay the night, you can go tomorrow, I promise."  
  
Cloud thought about it and reluctantly agreed. Unbeknownst to him was that Dr. Kadowaki's true intention was to check for any abnormal brain activity to see if, in fact, he had hit his head.  
  
Cloud lay there until he fell asleep. He dreamt that Aeris was alive, and that they were married with a beautiful child. Cloud was happily cuddling with her as he was awoken by someone shaking his arm.  
  
Cloud opened his eyes and looked up at the person that had woke him. She was a beautiful dark-haired girl with dark-brown eyes. She wore a pretty blue dress and had a couple strands of her hair high-lighted a reddish-gold color.  
  
"Hiya," She spoke.  
  
"Hi." Cloud replied indifferently.  
  
"It's great to finally meet you, I'm Rinoa Heartilly, the one that found you."  
  
"Oh, well nice to meet you too, I guess."  
  
"That doesn't sound very enthusiastic seeing as how I saved your life and all."  
  
"...Thank you." Cloud said with genuine compassion.  
  
"Your welcome.Well, I have to go now, I hope we can talk again. Bye." She walked out of the infirmary and Cloud couldn't keep his eyes off her. He stared so intently that even Dr. Kadowaki noticed.  
  
"Cute ain't she?" She asked not at all minding her own business.  
  
"Yeah." Cloud replied, pretending not to care, but the truth was, he didn't have time to think about Aeris anymore.  
  
Ho ho ho ho! So Aeris is out of the picture now? Love really does stink. Well, she's kind of dead, so he had to move on sometime, just don't feel bad for Tifa because in my story, she's dead too. Just wait until Cloud has to deal with Squall...... R/R!!! 


	3. SeeD

Welcome to X-zone chapter 3. I hope you have enjoyed the story thus far, even though the chapters are short, that's how I write I guess. Well, I still don't own any copyrights and such of Final Fantasy 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, or 11. But I do own copies of some (1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.....everything but 3 and 11). Just read and review, later.  
  
Chapter 3: SeeD  
  
Cloud sat up in his bed in the infirmary. He hadn't slept much the previous night, but he was used to that because he didn't sleep much anyway. His thoughts were always plagued with painful memories. Dr. Kadowaki entered the infirmary and looked down at her records.  
  
"Well, your brain seems to be functioning quite normally. You're free to leave, but the headmaster would like to speak with you before you go." Dr. Kadowaki announced.  
  
"Okay, where can I find him?" Cloud asked.  
  
"SHE can be found by entering the elevator and pressing the button for her office."  
  
"...And where is the elevator?"  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm used to dealing with Balamb Garden students. All you have to do is exit this office, go down the hall, then turn right when you enter the main plaza. If you walk down that way, you can't miss the elevator."  
  
"Well, thank you for all of your help, I'll see her on my way out." Cloud left the office. He followed the instructions given to him and turned right at the main plaza. He eventually found the elevator and got on, despite the rude stare he received from the person that bumped into him while exiting. He pressed the button clearly marked as Headmaster's office and began to move up. He got off and knocked on the big door in front of him. He heard a voice tell him to enter and he did so.  
  
"You must be Cloud," the Headmaster said, "I'm Quistis Trepe, the Headmaster of Balamb Garden."  
  
"I heard that you wanted to see me?" Cloud inquired.  
  
"Um, yes, I did. I was wondering about that." She pointed to the corner of the room and Cloud looked to see his Buster Sword leaning against the wall.  
  
"What about it? It's my sword."  
  
"Well, quite frankly, that is the biggest sword I have ever seen, and I was wondering how you would wield it. My guys could barely lift it, let alone swing it."  
  
"The only way I know how, easily." Cloud replied with some arrogance.  
  
"Well, why don't you show me."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"All right, follow me." They headed to the training area. They wondered around for a while, surprisingly not finding any monsters of much challenge, so Quistis quickly dismantled them with her whip. She wanted to find Cloud a real opponent, a T-Rexaur. After a few more minutes, one emerged from the trees and charged Cloud and Quistis.  
  
"Okay, this is your test. You're on your own, good luck." Quistis called over the T-Rexaur's roar. Cloud pulled his sword into a ready position and prepared to battle.  
  
The T-Rexaur took a quick lunge at Cloud with his huge jaws, but Cloud managed to dodge out of the way. The T-Raxaur reared up and did it again, only to find nothing in his mouth. This time, it was Cloud's turn to be the aggressor as he jumped up and hurled his sword down at the dinosaur's head, leaving a large gash near the eye. The dinosaur got angry and made another lunging bite at Cloud, but he decided to swing his sword right into the dinosaur's mouth. This broke off a couple of the T-Rexaur's teeth and made him seriously angry. The T-Rexaur took one final dive at Cloud and picked him up in his mouth and attempted to swallow him.  
  
It seemed as if the battle was over, as the huge beast seemed to be chewing up his latest meal. Suddenly the top of the T-Rexaur's head exploded in a flash of light and all you could see was Cloud and his sword moving at almost light speed. When he was done, he jumped up into the air and struck down with one final cut. The creature's head was completely missing, as if it was chopped into minced meat, which it pretty much was.  
  
"That was........." Quistis trailed off. She had never seen such brilliant swordsmanship. She didn't expect him to be that fast with a weapon so huge.  
  
"I call it Omni-Slash." Cloud announced proudly.  
  
"Whatever it was, it was amazing. Cloud, I would be honored if you would join my military special forces unit know as SeeD.  
  
"C-D?" Cloud asked confused.  
  
"Yes, SeeD is a special task force that goes on special missions to help Balamb Garden and sometimes, the entire plantet. Of course, you wouldn't be working for free....."  
  
Cloud thought about her offer. He could try to find a way home, or he could stay and keep trying to talk to that Rinoa chick. "Sure, why not?" Cloud finally spoke.  
  
"Good, I've never had someone decide so quickly. Most of the people in SeeD had to pass an entrance exam and take many classes, but you are too good for any of that. You start right away at SeeD rank sixteen of thirty."  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
"Well, you can stay here in Balamb Garden until you are deployed for a mission. You should probably have someone show you around the Garden as it is quite large. Have you met anyone?"  
  
Cloud didn't even have to think about it. "Yeah, Rinoa."  
  
"Ahhh..... I'm sure she'll be glad to show you around. I'll summon her right away. Let's go back to my office."  
  
A/N: So, Cloud just got here and he's already in SeeD? Well, in my opinion, his entrance test was a lot harder than the Fire Cavern or securing the central square in Dollet. So, I kind of understand why she let him in..... wait, I'm writing this thing, I can make pink elephants be SeeD members if I want to. I won't, because that would be stupid though. Well, we'll read about Cloud's tour of Balamb Garden in the following chapter, and pretty soon, Cloud will have his first SeeD mission, with Squall...... Until next time kiddies! 


	4. The Tour

I"M SORRY I'VE TAKEN SO LONG TO UPDATE!!!!. Reviews are much appreciated, and! If you review my story, I promise to EVENTUALLY check out and review some of yours. Anyway, let's get to it.  
  
Chapter 4: The Tour  
  
"And this is a plant. Isn't it nice......" Rinoa trailed off, continuing a tour that she had obviously never given before. Cloud hung on her words, waiting for more, but nothing came. Cloud was interested in whatever she talked about, but, he wondered why he felt this way so quickly. Why Aeris barely mattered to him anymore....  
  
"So, that's the tour, did you like it? I hope I wasn't too boring." Rinoa finally ended the tour, even though there was much more to show.  
  
"It was fine." Cloud replied. "Thank you."  
  
"No problem." Rinoa said.  
  
"The only thing that was missing was where to get some grub around here." Cloud said sarcastically.  
  
"Oh, I guess I did leave some things out huh? Well, don't worry, I'll take you."  
  
"Thanks because I'm starving."  
  
They proceeded to the cafeteria where Zell was gulping down his seventh hot dog.  
  
"Zell, slow down, you know what happened last time." Rinoa laughed.  
  
"Shut up, that won't happen again!" Zell barked back after swallowing.  
  
"Cloud this is Zell. He's a friend and fellow combatant of mine. We'll just let him finish his meal for now." Rinoa said, ignoring Zell. Cloud and Rinoa proceeded to get some food at the food line. Cloud waited and grabbed a hot dog and some chips.  
  
"Well, I guess you're all set now. You know where you're sleeping and stuff so, I guess I'll be on my way." Rinoa said and turned to leave. "Wait!" Cloud said.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Won't you have lunch with me?" Cloud asked and waited for what seemed like forever for her to respond.  
  
"Well, I really can't, but, I'll see you again I'm sure." Rinoa replied.  
  
"Oh....okay." Cloud sounded sad.  
  
"Well.....see ya." Rinoa said and walked off. Cloud proceeded to sit down at a table and eat his food. Once he was finished, he went to his dorm room and just lay on his bed.  
  
Cloud hated being left with just himself to talk to, being alone to think. It was a nightmare, at least it was most of the time. He would usually think about how much of a failure he was because he didn't do everything he could to save Aeris. This time however, Aeris was absent from his mind, she didn't exist. All he was thinking about was how to talk to Rinoa when the intercom sounded.  
  
"Cloud Strife, report to the entryway for mission briefing." The message sounded and repeated a couple times. Cloud rose, grabbed his sword and was off toward the entryway. When he arrived, he saw a few others standing there with the headmaster. One of them was Zell, one of them was a guy in a tan trench coat and a cowboy hat, and the last one was a guy in a black leather jacket with what looked like fur around the neck. When Cloud got close enough to see his face, he noticed he had a deep scar right between his eyes.  
  
"Okay, everyone's here." Quitis announced. "Cloud, this is your team, Irvine, Zell, and Squall." Irvine extended his hand and Cloud shook it.  
  
"Hey, you're that crazy guy that only had ONE hotdog!" Zell said as he extended his hand. Cloud shook it.  
  
Cloud extended his hand toward Squall. Squall just stood there for a moment, then he began to speak. "So, you're the one that Rinoa was talking about, the one that beat the T- Rexaur by himself." Squall inquired.  
  
"Yeah, that's me." Cloud replied.  
  
"Well, if you're really that strong, then you will be a great help to this mission, but, I'll have to see it myself before I believe anything." Squall said firmly.  
  
"Fair enough." They all turned their attention to Quistis for the briefing.  
  
"Your mission is quite simple. You must find this man." She handed Irvine a photo. He glanced at the photo and passed it to Zell, who did the same and handed it to Squall. Squall handed it to Cloud. Cloud looked at the photo and froze. Quistis went on.  
  
"No one knows his name, or why he has killed so many people, but we keep getting the same consistent description. A man with platinum hair and a black cape. Someone finally managed to get a picture of him.....before he killed them."  
  
Cloud continued staring at the photo. He knew exactly who the man was. He knew what he was capable of. The only thing he wasn't sure of is how he had gotten here.  
  
"Sephiroth." Cloud said aloud.  
  
A/N: So, Sephiroth, who was dead last time I saw him, has somehow wound up in the FF8 world along with Cloud, and he's killing people. Are Squall and his crew in over there heads? Will Cloud and Squall get all buddy buddy before Squall finds about that Cloud's trying to get with his girl? We shall see..... 


End file.
